Overview of Current Market Conditions

The following charts show the changes that have taken place in the Hamden real estate market between 2005 and 2010. The first chart shows the change in the median selling price for a single-family home from 2005 through October 2010. The second chart shows the change in median price for condominiums. (The median sale price is the middle of the range of actual selling prices from the lowest to the highest. The median is used instead of an average because the average gives higher weight to the higher priced properties, the median gives equal weight to all sales.)

2005 through 2010 Median Sale Price Comparison (Single Family Homes)

2005 through 2010 Median Sale Price Comparison (Condominiums)

HAMDEN, CT LEVEL OF ASSESSMENT

The graphs below show the changes that have taken place in the Hamden real estate market since the last revaluation in 2005. These graphs have been updated with data through October 1, 2010. As we can see in the charts, at the time of the last reassessment in 2005, the level of assessment for single family and condominiums was 67% and 66% respectively. As the real estate market increased in value in the following years, the assessments, remaining static, decreased as a percent of selling prices. Condominiums peaked in value in 2006 with a level of assessment down to 63% and single family homes peaked in 2006 with a level of assessment down to 63%. The downturn that followed resulted in an increase in levels of assessment for both major classes of property. In both cases the level of assessment has exceeded 2005 levels, indicating that property selling prices have fallen below 2005 levels. Currently, the indicated level of assessment for condominiums is 72% and for single-family homes the level of assessment is 73%. The broad conclusion we can draw from the above data is that some downward changes will take place in the 2010 revaluation. Current trends indicate a small decrease in assessments to approach the State-mandated level will be necessary. These indicated trends are broad in approach and may not apply to all properties.